SAUDI ARABIA: Some Saudi Arabian women seeking to end men-only road rules take to the roads, defying government warnings not to drive, campaigners say

Record ID: 189254

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Some Saudi Arabian women seeking to end men-only road rules take to the roads, defying government warnings not to drive, campaigners say
  • Date: 26th October 2013
  • Summary: SAUDI NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (Arabic) "Ministry of Interior threatens any woman driving with arrest and calling her guardian" SAUDI NEWS PAPER HEADLINE READING (Arabic) "Women driving cars, between supporters and opponents" SAUDI ARAB NEWS NEWSPAPER READING (English) "Women driving advocates drop demonstration plans" AL HAYAT SAUDI NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING (Arabic) "Ministry of Interior calls October 26 campaign supporters on the phone"
  • Embargoed: 10th November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Politics,People,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA8O3YSG923ZE1M2DF60R7WTMHD
  • Story Text: A few women filmed themselves driving in Saudi cities on Saturday (October 26), defying government warnings of arrest and prosecution to take part in a campaign against men-only road rules, activists said.
    But some others stayed at home, put off by phone calls from men who said they were from the Interior Ministry, reported organisers of the demonstration against an effective ban on women drivers.
    Police put up checkpoints in some parts of Riyadh, Reuters witnesses said, and there appeared to be more traffic patrols than usual on the streets of the capital - the latest sign of the sensitivity of the issue in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.
    Saudi woman O'hood said she was in favour of women being allowed to drive.
    "I am with the women's driving because there are a lot of things that are disrupted because of not being able to drive. Because a woman always needs a man to drive her, it is safer that the women drive herself rather than to be with a foreign person [driver]."
    But men Reuters spoke to on the streets of Riyadh were against the idea.
    "Why these demonstrations and campaigns for driving? When women do not need to drive? Women go to school with a private driver and back with a private driver and go everywhere and do everything they need with a private driver. There is no reason to drive," said Abdullah al-Dakheel.
    "A woman is living in honour and dignity, living with us like a queen, all her demands and needs are met. Why trouble herself?" asked Ala'a.
    "If a girl was alone in a car or with a group of girls, they would be exposed to harassment by young people. Even when they are with the driver, they are exposed to harassment and such acts. I'm totally against the idea [of women driving]," said Howamer al-Dossery.
    Videos were published on the women driving campaign's YouTube feed and Twitter on Saturday morning, dated Oct. 26 and purporting to show women driving in Riyadh, the oasis region of al-Ahsa and the city of Jeddah.
    It was not possible to verify when they were filmed.
    A clip said to have been filmed in al-Ahsa showed a woman driving a car.
    "We are in Al Najah street, I am going to take my sisters to do some of their work instead of waiting for the driver or someone to take them. They will be delayed, so we decided to do our work by ourselves, we are going to the salon now. I drive carefully and can drive very well, there is no danger on us, God willing," she says on the video.
    King Abdullah has pushed some cautious reforms, expanding female education and employment. But he has also been careful not to open big rifts with conservative clerics.
    Mosques across Saudi Arabia broadcast sermons on Friday telling women to stay at home.
    Protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia, and public demands for political or social change have traditionally been interpreted by the authorities as an unacceptable challenge to the ruling al-Saud family's authority, local analysts say.
    However, organisers said their call for women to drive on Saturday was not a political protest as they had not called for gatherings, rallies or processions of cars.
    Instead they have asked women with foreign driving licences to get behind the wheel accompanied by a male relative and drive themselves when performing everyday tasks.
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